Lando Norris is certain that McLaren can replicate Aston Martin’s rapid progress, with the British driver believing that “50% or 75%” of their progress can be made during the current season, rather than the winter break at the end of the year.
Aston Martin have made monumental strides over the recent off-season, with the Silverstone-based team having risen from being the seventh-fastest team, to the third.
Fernando Alonso claimed a sensational podium for Aston Martin whilst Oscar Piastri retired, and Norris finished last, highlighting Aston Martin’s rise and McLaren’s fall.
The British outfit have effectively splashed the cash, by signing excellent personnel, including, former Alpine driver Fernando Alonso and former Red Bull employee Dan Fallows.
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A new state-of-the-art factory is also nearing completion, with Aston Martin set to have the best facilities on the grid.
With all of that in mind, Norris is using Aston Martin’s progress as inspiration, with the Brit believing that McLaren can fix their 2023 car.
“I certainly think a big part of it is,” Norris told RacingNews365.com, when asked if the MCL60 can be fixed.
“We’ve clearly seen how big of a step Aston Martin have taken from one year to another, and how big of a step Ferrari took from 2021 to 2022.
“I know both of those were in the off-seasons, and maybe there’s more potential to do such a big changes, but there’s no reason why 50% or 75% of that can’t be done through the season.”
Team principal Andrea Stella is also confident that McLaren can bounce back from their difficult start to the season, with some major upgrades set to be introduced at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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“I think that for the level of talent, and for the availability we have at McLaren already, we can recover and we can out-develop other teams,” said Stella.
“What we see in development right now is a very alive car, in terms of development. There are some areas of the car that seem to be able to generate good downforce.
“Like I’ve said already, they were not ready in time to be part of the launch spec, but this car will evolve pretty much race-by-race, with some major upgrades that will come… I would say around race four.”